Prosecutors seeking alternate site for jury selection in trial of nurse accused of murder

SMITH COUNTY — Prosecutors are seeking plans for an alternate jury selection site for the long-anticipated trial of William Davis, the former CHRISTUS nurse accused of murdering patients. According to our news partner KETK, in a brief five-minute hearing Monday morning, Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman said that with Harvey Hall being torn down later this summer, an alternate plan would be needed to summon the hundreds of potential jurors needed to pull from for a capital murder trial. He suggested that an alternative could be having multiple small sessions in the central courthouse jury room rather than one large pool.

114th District Court Judge Austin Reeves Jackson also officially disclosed in open court that his mother works for CHRISTUS, but did not say in what capacity. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed that it would not be a problem for the trial.

The former CHRISTUS nurse accused of murdering multiple patients will be appearing in court Monday morning for the first time this year. William George Davis, 37, was arrested back in April 2018 and had been fired back in February of that year by CHRISTUS Louis and Peaches Owen Heart Hospital. The official reason was for “falsification of care events and his unethical practice related to failure to disclose interventions provided.” An investigation by hospital staff and police revealed that it was likely a crime had occurred with the injury and death of several patients that were considered “statistical anomalies.”

Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman announced last year that he would be seeking the death penalty in the case. The trial is currently set for jury selection to begin in late July.

On March 16, 2018, the Texas Board of Nursing issued a Temporary Suspension Order against Davis, citing cases in which the board determined Davis was a “continuing and imminent threat to the public welfare.”

The affidavit says that security footage showed Davis entering the patients’ rooms and leaving. Almost immediately after, they would suffer a “profound incident” despite being considered stable after surgery.